Improvement in horse-rake teeth



mwf; 1 Herg Ha@ 7002122 A249500 Fannie@ Sanit/65 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A RIEL B. SPROUT, OF HUGHESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-RAKE TEETH.

b'peciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,800, dated September 5, 1865.

To all whom 'it mag/ concerm Beit known that I, ARIEL B. SPROUT, of Hughesville, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have made new and useful Improvements in Horse-Rake Teeth; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the nature, construction, and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made part of this specification.

Figure l is a side elevation of my rake-tooth. Fig. 2 is a section of the same on the line a:

' Fig. 1, looking towardl the rear. Fig. 3 is a sectional viewon the linea: zr, and Fig. 4 is a section of a tooth' construced of round iron, the two latter gures being introduced to facilitate explanation by reference to them.

Similar letters refer to corresponding parts in the different gures.

Myinvention consists, iirst, in the form given to the sides ofthe teeth-that is'to say,in channelin g or hollowin g them-as is distinctly seen in the sect-ions, Figs. 2 and 3; second, in gradually increasing the strength of the tooth from the point d to about the portion C by gradually tapering the steel or irony of said curve between said portions, thereby increasing. the tractile strength of the curve and lessening the liability of breaking at or near the portion C by the strain and force gradually brought `on and against the said curve and tooth in the raking process.

The purpose of these improvements is to increase the eifectiveness and econoinize the ma'- terial 5 also, to cause a larger portion or length ot' the teeth to be concerned in their deiiection 5 and, further, to avoid the use of Weighted bars, springs, staples, braces, 85o., used for giving support, strength, and power to the curve oi' 'the tooth near the point where it is so liable to break.

To enable one skilled in the branch of manufacture to which my invention appertains to construct and use the same, l will proceed to describe it.

A is arake-tooth of curved form, audits sides are hollowed out, as shown in the sectional View. Itis also tapered from a point at or near the mid-length ot' the tooth toward its rear end. The advantage of the shape indicated by the curved or hollowed sides consists in throwing b, of the tooth the weight of metal is more eco-l nomically and effectively distributed.

The other portion of my improvement consists in gradually increasing the tractive power, thereby modifying the deflection or exible action of the curve ot' the vteeth by tapering the steel er iron between the point d and the portion U, so that a larger portion ofthe tooth may be concerned in its deiie'ction, thereby overcoming the liability of the teeth to break in the curved part, or becomingsetin a straightened position when greatly strained and deflected' from their normal condition, and also to avoid the use of weighted bars, springs, staples, braces, &c.,which have been used to strengthen the teeth at this portion of their length.

It is evident that when the tooth carries its size from end to end (Withthe exception ofthe inere point, to which I am not referring) and has the bowed shape usual in horse-rake teeth, of which shape Fig. 1 may be taken as an eX- atnple, the lower half of the curve, or that bef tween the portion marked C, Fig. 1, and the pointof the tooth will be very unequally strained in the action of raking. The Weight of the hay being mainly upon the portion adjacentto the point, and the attachment of the tooth being at-its other end, the strain will naturally be the greatest in the neighborhood ofthe mid-length ofthe portion U in the illustration, Fig. l, and

the design of making it of the taper form l have represented is that a larger portion of its length may be equally concerned in the said dellection-min fact that the tooth from C to d may be equally deiiected by the pressure toward the rear incident to the raking action, and that the lightening ofthe tooth due to the taper form may be commensurate with the dlminished strain incident to its position farther from the point at which the deiiection is naturally aggregated, as has been set forth.

It is believed that the purpose of this peculiar construction has been made apparent, the

also that straight teeth have been lnade tapering. Therefore I do not claim, broadly, tapering rake-teeth other than when connected withv` teeth curved substantially as represented in Fig. l, which teeth have functions not pertaining to the varieties of straight and slightlycurved teeth; but,

Having described myinvention,what1claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is A LGrooving or hollowing the sides ofthe tooth so that it's thickness through its center on the line d, Fig. 3, may be less than on the lines a b, same figure, in order to place the greater amount of metal where it is needed to give effectiveness with economy of material.l

2. The combination of the taper with the curve of the tooth, said taper extending from about the portion C to the point d, said curve being about a semicircle, so that by the combination of the taper and the curve the inward tjactive power of the curve is gradually increased from the point d to about the portion C, substantially as herein described, and for the purpose set forth.

The above specification of my improvement i'u rake-teeth signed this 16th day of March,

A. B. SPROUT. Witnesses:

EDWARD H. KNIGHT, CHARLES D. SMITH. 

